Television cabinet



Feb. 26, 1957 G. TRAUTVETTER TELEVISION CABINET Filed June '7, 1954 2Sheets-Sheet 1 W Q a NVENTOR v 650F675 7 W, 07 VHIE/F,

BY (DJ Feb. '26, 1957 G; TRAUTVETTER TELEVISION CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed June 7, 1954 MFG I d W Q WQ 1NVENTOR ATTORNEY United States PatentTELEVISION CABINET George Trautvetter, Jenkintown, Pa., assignor toHeintz Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., :1 corporation ofPennsylvania Application June 7, 1954, Serial No. 434,755

2 Claims. (Cl. 312-7) This invention relates to the construction of atelevision cabinet from sheet metal, and more particularly to theconstruction of the molding part of the metal television cabinet and itscooperation with the tube mask.

In the construction of known metal television cabinets, it is the usualpractice to construct the main body of the wrap-around and the moldingas separate pieces. One such recent construction is shown in co-pendingapplication Serial No. 404,884 filed January 19, 1954, now Patent No.2,695,206 granted Nov. 23, 1954.

The construction of the molding separate from the wrap-around has anumber of disadvantages. First, there must always be a joint between thewrap-around and the front molding, Whether the molding is formed as aseparate stamping or casting or whether it is formed of rolled metalsections as described in the copending application mentioned above.

The fact that the molding and wrap-around are two separate pieces hasthe obvious disadvantage of requiring aseparate welding operation tojoin the members, as well as requiring a rather precise alignment.

Another disadvantage closely related to the matter of joining the twoseparate members is the desirability of having a uniform finish on theouter surface of the cabinet, which uniform finish cannot be readilyaccomplished where it is necessary to join two separate memberstogether. For example, it is many times desired to finish the cabinetwith a simulated wood grain. As a practical matter, it has beenimpossible to match the grains between the two sections and, therefore,manufacturers have usually preferred a two-tone finish.

The invention realized that, if the wrap-around and front molding werestamped from a single piece of sheet metal, the disadvantages set forthabove would be avoided, and, in addition, considerable savings could beeffected by the elimination of separate stamping and welding operations,as well as separate stamping dies to make and join the cabinet in twoseparate pieces.

The inventors new and improved wrap-around which includes the frontmolding in the single stamping eliminates the separate operations,permits a finish which quite closely approximates a wood grain finish,and is much cheaper to construct than the known designs.

In addition to the broad concept of constructing the front molding andwrap-around from one piece of sheet metal, the inventor has designed abevel into the front molding, which bevel materially facilitates thestamping operation by enabling the stamping die to be removed easilyafter the operation.

Yet another feature of the applicants invention is the construction ofthe television tube mask and control panel from a single piece of sheetmetal which can be quite easily attached to the wrap-around and frontmolding.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide atelevision cabinet in which the front molding and the wrap-around arestamped from a single sheet of metal.

It is another object of the invention to provide a comice bination inwhich the major parts of the television cabinet consist of only twopieces, namely, the integral wraparound and front molding and theintegral tube mask and control panel.

These and other objects will become more readily apparent from aconsideration of the following description of the invention taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a television cabinet constructedaccording to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in front elevation;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 44 of Fig.v 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 7 is a detail fragmentary view of the bottom corner of the cabinetin front elevation;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail view of the corner of the cabinet shownin Fig. 7 looking toward the left;

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of the fragment shown in Fig. 7; and

Figs. 10 and 11 are diagrammatic sectional views illustrating thestamping operation.

The television cabinet 20 constructed according to the present inventionis best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cabinet consists principally of thewrap around 22, the molding 24, the tube mask 26, and the control panel28. Additionally, the cabinet is provided with a bottom member 30 havingfeet 32 on which the cabinet is mounted.

The wrap-around 22 is comprised mainly of two side walls 34 and a topwall 36. These walls terminate at the rear end in flanges 38 to which abacking can be attached.

The front of the cabinet is terminated in the molding which consists ofthe bevelled surface 40, a short vertical surface 42, an inner surface44 parallel to the walls of the wrap-around, and a flange 46 to whichthe tube mask and panel assembly are attached. All of the surfaces 40through 46 are stamped integrally with the wrap-around 22.

The principal remaining member of the cabinet is the tube mask 26 andcontrol panel 28, the control panel having openings 25, 27, and 29 forthe control knobs. As best shown in Fig. 2, this member is stamped froma single piece of metal. Thus, the principal visible members of thetelevision cabinet consist of only two pieces, the first being theintegral wrap-around and front molding and the second being the integraltube mask and control panel. This arrangement obviously will effectsavings in the assembling operations by reducing the number of membersto be assembled.

The manner in which these two principal members are joined is shown inFigs. 4 and 5 which are sectional views along lines 44 and 5-5respectively of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4, it is shown that the mask portion 26 of the mask and controlpanel is welded to the flange 46 of the front molding portion of thewrap-around. Additionally, Fig. 4 shows a structural member 48 to whichis mounted a bolt 50 for use in positively mounting the televisionchassis to the cabinet.

Fig. 5 shows that the lower part of the Wrap-around adjacent the controlpanel 28 does not have the flange 46. Rather, the control panel 28 iswelded directly to the inner surface 44 of the front molding.

Figs. 6 to 9 are detail views showing the construction of the bottomcorner of the television cabinet and show in particular the manner ofjoining the bottom member 30 to the control panel 28 and wrap-around 22.At the bottom of the cabinet, the flange 52 on the control panel a? andthe flange 44 on the wrap-round are slotted as indicated at 54 toaccommodate the bottom member 30. The bottom member 30 rests on a flange56 on the control panel 28 and a flange 58 on the wrap-around 22. Thebottom member is welded to the wrap-around and control panel at theflanges 56 and 58.

In manufacturing the wrap-around and front molding integrally, a problemarises with respect to the removal of the stamping die after thewrap'around is completed. This problem is solved by this invention byintroducing the bevel into the molding as shown in the drawings. Figs.10 and 11 have been included in the application to show the importanceof the bevel on the molding as it affects the stamping operation. Inpractice, the corners adjoining surfaces 42, 44, and 46 would be formedbefore n the last stamping operation, so that, in the last operation,the wrap-around would be on a die, diagrammatically shown at 60 in Fig.10, in order to form the corner between surface 40 and wall 36.Additionally, the flange 38 at the rear of the cabinet is formedsimultaneously. After the stamping operation, the wrap-around must beremoved from the die 60. With the bevel construction shown in Fig. 10,this can easily be effected as the die only extends to the bevel and,thus, permits removal of the stamping.

If, however, the bevel is not formed and the front molding isrectangular in section as shown in Fig. 11, it is necessary to provide acollapsible die in order to remove the stamping. Such a collapsible diemight consist of a front member 62, a rear member 64, both bevelled asat 66 and 68 respectively, and a wedge 70. At the end of the stampingoperation, the wedge can be removed to permit members 62 and to becollapsed and the stamping removed.

Thus, it is demonstrated that, by adopting a bevel configuration on thefront molding portion of the wraparound, the operation of stamping thewraparound is facilitated.

While I have described what I deem to be the most practical andefficient embodiments of my invention, it is to be well understood thatI do not Wish to be limited thereto as there are many variations whichcan be made without departing from the scope of the invention as setforth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A television cabinet comprising, in combination, a pair of members,one of said members forming a top and side walls, the other of saidmembers comprising an integral control panel and tube mask, said onemember having reversely bent and inturned flanges along the sidewallsand top adjacent the tube mask portion and reversely bent flanges alongthe sidewalls adjacent the control panel portion, said other memberhaving flanged portions along the top and side edges of the tube maskand .90" flanges on the edges of the control panel, said flanges on saidmembers engaging to form the cabinet, said other member having reverselybent flanges along the side edges of the control panel and flangedportions along the side and top edges of the tube mask for engagementwith the flanges on said first-named member.

2. A television cabinet according to claim 1 and further includinginwardly beveled portions along the top and side edges of saidfirst-named member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.170,292 Trautvetter Aug. 25, 1953 1,181,907 Long May 2, 1916 1,904,912Wolters Apr. 18, 1933 2,169,419 Hofierberth Aug. 15, 1939 2,543,146 BaceFeb. 27, 1951 2,552,617 Bath May 15, 1951 2,638,860 Nobles May 19, 19532,695,206 Trautvetter Nov. 23, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 648,396 Germany July30, 1937

